that's it for us. "early start" begins now. see you later tonight. mitt romney changing positions. the candidate now calls his 47% comments completely wrong. >> travel alert. flights scrubbed, more cancellations at american airlines as mechanics fix a serious safety flaw in half its fleet of 757s. gas prices, some pumps shut down among a major fuel shortage in one state. good morning to you. welcome to "early start." we're happy you're with us, i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman. it's 5:00 a.m. in the east. it's good to be mitt right now.

romney is hitting the battlegrounds and hammering away at the president. >> here's the kicker. remember that hidden camera video of romney's controversial 47% remark? >> 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. 47% are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to provide for them, belief they're entitled to health care, food, housing, you name it. they will vote for this president no matter what. >> remember that. and remember romney's explanation after the video was released. >> well, you know, it's not elegantly stated. let me put it that way. i'm speaking off the cuff in response to a question. it's a message i'll carry and continue to carry, which is, look, the president's approach is tractive to people who are not paying taxes.

because frankly, my discussion about lowering taxes isn't as attractive to them and, therefore, i'm not likely to draw them into my campaign as effectively as those who are in the id million. >> so he said it was a message he was going to continue to carry. but now this. in a tv interview last night, romney did a complete about-face, saying the statement was completely wrong. >> clearly in a campaign with hundreds, if not thousands of speeches and question and answer sessions, now and then you'll say something that doesn't come out right. in this case i said something that is completely wrong. and i absolutely believe, however, that my life has shown that i care about 100%. and that's been demonstrated throughout my life. and this whole campaign is about the 100%. when i become president it will be about helping the 100%. >> pretty interesting, though. after he said it he said it was inelegant but it's what he meant and now he's saying it's completely wrong. you can really see an evolution there as the general election

gets closer and maybe he tries to move a little bit to the middle. >> i wonder -- now he'll be accused of flip-flopping again. that will be the argument they'll continue to use. the reason he came out and strongly stated that's not what he meant is so that president obama can't use it against him going forward. >> it was a good line he used with sean hannity. he probably was prepared to use it in the debate but he didn't get the chance because president obama didn't bring up the 47%. president obama is back at a rally in wisconsin yesterday, the president sounded more like his supporters wanted him to sound during the debate as he mocked mitt romney. >> when i got on the stage, i met this very spirited fellow who claimed to be mitt romney. but i know it couldn't have been mitt romney. because the real mitt romney's been running around the country for the last year promising $5 trillion in tax cuts that favor the wealthy.

and yet, the fellow on the stage last night, who looked like mitt romney, said he did not know anything about that. >> a spirited president obama last night, somewhat different president than we saw at the debate a couple nights ago. the president hits two more battleground states today, virginia and ohio. >> some people are wondering where was president obama, right? it was a different president obama as well. >> i think his aides in the campaign made sure they did see a different president obama yesterday on the trail for sure. >> yes. could the october surprise be the september jobs report? it comes out at 8:30 eastern this morning. economists surveyed by cnn money aren't expecting to game changer but they expect more of the same sluggish growth. here's their prediction. 110,000 jobs added last month. if that pans out it will be a slight improvement over august when 96,000 jobs are created. in both cases those numbers are not nearly high enough to bring down the jobless rate. >> what does the september jobs

report mean for you? christine romans is minding your business. she will join us later in this half hour. meanwhile, new developments this morning, more flights canceled, more planes idle. it is shaping up to be a rough, rough morning for american airlines and thousands of air travelers. 38 boeing 747s have been called in for maintenance and passengers on dozens more american flights will have to find another way to get where they're going today. if you're watching this from the airport, keep watching. you'll be watching for a while. all this because something called a seat lock plunger. that's the problem. the airline believes it's the culprit that caused passenger seats to come loose from the floor on three different flights. george howell is joining us live from the cnn center in atlanta. explain to us what this lock plunger is, how it works and how does american believe some of them came loose? >> john, good morning. it's basically a lock and pin system. and what we've learned from our

affiliate, wfaa, they went out and spoke with american airlines, they learned it came down to this partly, came down to soft drinks, came down to cokes and coffee that had spilled and, over time, contributed to the wear and tear on the system, eventually, john, causing it to go into the unlock position. that's why you saw those seats come loose on two different planes, three flights within a week's time. so what we found now is american airlines, they are doubling down on this problem. they decided to take in 48 of the 757 planes and retrofit them with another mechanism to keep these seats affixed to the floor, john, so that passengers like this woman who did not want to be identified, so they don't have to go through the same thing again. let's listen. >> the seats flipped backwards. it was actually a complete nightmare. and so people were essentially on the laps of the passengers behind them. >> seriously, george?

they're blaming spilled drinks for this problem? >> they say that's part of the problem. part of what contributed to the problem. in fact, just a few days ago they also said that these mechanisms were put on backwards. so their mechanics are looking into the problem. they have these 48 planes and they're trying to make sure, john, it doesn't happen again. >> are they saying how long it will take to fix? >> we know that just yesterday there were 50 flights that were canceled. today there could be 44 flights canceled. we could see this problem for the next day. they say that this work should be completed by october 6th. so, again, we're talking about thousands of people who will be going to the airport, finding their flights might have been canceled as american tries to get to the bottom of this problem and make sure it doesn't happen again. >> grim travel news this morning. meanwhile for passengers everywhere, stop spilling your drinks, i guess. >> right. that's the weird thing. >> yes. >> because that happens all the

time. you imagine this will continue. seven minutes past the hour. a member of the infamous manson family could soon be out of prison. a california parole board has approved a request from bruce davis. he's serving a life sentence for the 1969 murders of music teacher gary hindman and stuntman shorty shay. >> the parole board says it has 120 days to review this recommendation and then it's up to the california governor, jerry brown, to decide if it stands. davis was granted parole in 2010 but that decision was overturned by then governor arnold schwarzenegger. if he goes free, davis would be the second convicted manson family killer to be freed on parole. steve grogan who was also convicted in the murder of the stuntman shorty shay, was released on parole in the mid-1980s. the prosecutor who sent the manson family to prison says davis should stay behind bars.

manson himself was denied parole for the 12th time. he will not be eligible for parole for 15 years. by then, he will be 92 years old. arnold schwarzenegger said it was because of the heinous crimes. this was something that gripped the country and still is a part of kind of our psyche today. the parole board, though, saying he has taken part in every single -- every single kind of betterment and wellness and self-education program they've had. never had a disciplinary problem since 1980. they're recommending i ing it's for him to be released. >> thank you. u.s. special operations forces are now in libya helping gather intel on militants allegedly involved in the attack on the american consulate in benghazi that killed four americans. military officials tell cnn that includes intercepting communications, analyzg drone

images and one-on-one interviews with people who may have information. the military is providing security for an fbi team that's on the ground right now. the consulate sat unsecured for more than two weeks after that attack. >> 35 people in 6 states fighting fungal meningitis. that's a big jump from 26 just yesterday. at least 5 people have died. the number of infections could keep growing the cdc says the steroid medication linked to the outbreak was sent to 23 states. >> good gracious. >> the steroid was injected into the patient's spines for back pain. the company who made the medication is now issuing a voluntary recall. a late-blooming arab spring in jordan. they are challenging jordan's king and its government today. they're expected to hold a rally expected to start in about an hour from now. supporters of the muslim brotherhood, the largest opposition party there, will press for broader political

representation and a more democratic parliament in jordan as well. more bad news for hockey fan. we do not deserve this, the nhl canceled the first two weeks of the regular season because of the ongoing player lockout. the season was scheduled to start next thursday. ain't going to happen. this comes a week after the league wiped out the entire preseason. talks between the nhl and players union have failed to produce a new labor agreement. >> you think the whole season could be gone, right? >> yes. >> baseball's postseason kicks off with two wildcard matchups. it's a new one and done format. the winner moves on, the losers goes home. in the american league it's the upstart baltimore orioles, traveling to the lone star state to take on the defending american league champions texas rangers. first pitch, 8:37 p.m. eastern time. and in the national league, it's the defending champion, st. louis cardinals, taking on the braves in atlanta. go, braves! they'll get things going at 5:07

eastern. >> employees in atlanta are rooting for the braves. >> yes. there's my loyalty. we have a gas shortage to tell you about. some gas stations have shut down all together. a live report coming up after this quick break. creamy spinach artichoke dip, crispy garlic chicken spring rolls. they're this season's must-have accessory. lean cuisine. be culinary chic. inspiration. great power. iconic design. exhilarating performance. [ race announcer ] audi once again has created le mans history! [ male announcer ] and once in a great while... all of the above. take your seat in the incomparable audi a8. the highest-ranked vehicle appeal among large premium cars by j.d. power and associates. ♪

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the wheels of progress. seems they haven't been moving much lately. but things are starting to turn around because of business people like you. and regions is here to help. with the experience and service to keep things rolling.

from business loans to cash management, we want to be your partner moving forward. so switch to regions. and let's get going. together. and this just in. gas prices in california are the highest in the country. we just received the a. aa gas prices report. gas in california is at 4.48 a gallon. now, gas itself is at a premium there. as in it's hard to get. refinery supply chain problems have led to a severe gas shortage. that's driven places -- prices way, way up and caused stations to shut some pumps down. companies affected include valero, exxon, costco.

paul vercammen is live at a gas station in burbank. what's causing the shortage? >> reporter: john, it's been a whole series of mishaps. we had a pipeline shut down here in california. we had power outages affect refineries. all of this stacked together, at this gas station here, this is open, in burbank, it's at $4.61 a gallon for regular. this is considered lower than some of the other gas stations in the neighborhood which are up in the $4.79 range. you can imagine it's sheer agony at the pumps for consumers here in california. >> it was a little bit of a shock for me. i've actually been out of town the last couple months and i've been where the gas prices are a lot cheaper. it's about a dollar higher than what i've been paying. and even with the hybrid, it's a lot of money to pay, $4.60. >> and it takes a lot of gas to drive to locations. and i can't afford it. because i won't be able to pay

the gas to get over there. it's just very difficult when it goes up this much this fast. >> reporter: and we've seen a number of large suvs pull in. when they get done gassing up, it's well over $100 just to fill up that tank, john. >> we feel badly for california, don't get me wrong. can this spread elsewhere in the country? >> reporter: no. they think this is going to be confined just to california with most of the mishaps right here in southern california and affecting other parts of the state. they do not believe it will spread. also, another factor for california, do not forget we have the second highest gasoline tax in the country. almost 70 cents a gallon. the only place its higher is where you're sitting now, john, new york. >> the government may mess with the regulations a little bit to give some people some kind of temporary fix on this, too, right? >> absolutely right. that's a key factor here. the air quality control board may allow for a waiver to allow

californians to shift more quickly than usual to that winter grade of gasoline. the winter grade costs a lot less to produce than the environmentally friendly summer grade. that could be a big help. that could be within the next week or sooner possibly, john. >> paul vercammen in california. we're pulling for you out there, buddy. good luck with the gas. 18 minutes past the hour. let's get you up to date. christine romans with the top stories. following new developments about american airlines this morning, cancelling dozens more flights as it tries to fix a problem with seats coming loose in the air. now, american has pulled 48 boeing 757s out of service to secure a device called a seat lock plunger. it's a bracket that fastens seats to the plane's floor. the airline expects to be back to a full schedule by tomorrow. its public relations woes, however, continue. search teams in southwest china have discovered the bodies

of 18 children. this landslide struck the school and two houses yesterday in unon province. the students were at school to make up classes that were disrupted by earthquakes. a man nailed a bus driver after the driver threw him off the bus. the suspect was one of a group of young men who didn't pay when they got on board. when the 54-year-old bus driver told them to get off the bus, one of the men turned around and punched him in the face. >> that's awful. thanks, christine. 19 minutes after the hour right now. time for your early reads, the local news making national headlines. from the "philadelphia inquirer," a high school wore a romney/ryan campaign shirt to class on friday. the teacher demanded she take

the shirt off implying she was uninformed and likening it to the ku klux klan. >> wow. >> first she told me to get out of the class. then i said no. she goes in the hallway and said this girl is wearing a romney/ryan shirt. >> the geometry teacher has been temporarily re-assigned. students started bullying her on facebook since this happened. that seems to go against free speech. >> that's awful. in "the wall street journal," customers are going out of their gourds at the news of a pumpkin spice shortage at some starbucks locations. can you believe this? they're steamed and venting on twitter. one guy started his tweet with, quote, my world ended this morning. things have gotten so dire, prices on instant packs are apparently spiking on ebay. some people say they're rationing what they are able to acquire. >> what did we come to, a pumpkin spice shortage. >> oh, my goodness. i've got some in my cup board.

you can have it for free. big jobs news coming out this morning, the second to last jobs report before the presidential election. christine romans is breaking down the numbers, that's next. [ male announcer ] it's chevy truck month. now during chevy truck month, get 0% apr financing for 60 months or trade up to get the 2012 chevy silverado all-star edition with a total value of $8,000. hurry in before they're all gone! and the candidate's speech is in pieces all over the district. the writer's desktop and the coordinator's phone are working on a joke with local color. the secure cloud just received a revised intro from the strategist's tablet. and while i make my way into the venue, the candidate will be rehearsing off of his phone. [ candidate ] and thanks to every young face i see out there. [ woman ] his phone is one of his biggest supporters.

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i will be paying attention then. we'll get an update from the labor department on how the job market is doing. one more report after this before election day. >> christine romans has the forecast. a look at that, at the big picture for all of us. >> i'm going to put it on the wall for you so you can sort of see where we've come and why this is important and contentious. we're looking for 110,000 jobs created. that's the cnn money average forecast. unemployment rate of 8.1%. a year ago, 202,000 is what we did in september. it would be a little better than last month but not what we were seeing about a year ago. let me go further back, you guys and show you where we've come from. this is, are you better off? this is where are you now? this is very political story. in the late 2008, early 2009, look at this, this is the devastating jobs drop. hundreds of thousands of jobs lost every single month. then a very, very tentative,

tentative attempt at a recovery. a slip-back here. all of these bars going up, the black bars show you job creation. very few of those months are enough to even absorb new entrants into the workplace, general population growth. so it's been a sluggish recovery in the jobs market. we're expecting that to continue probably through the recession. but it has been slow, steady jobs growth. it has been two years of private sector job creation, a lot of ways you can slights these numbers. one number you don't hear a lot about, i want to show that now, this is a number that's called -- the labor participation rate. you go back to 1981, for the last time, you guys, that the labor market as a share of the population was so small. take a look at that. this is the '90s. we created 24 million jobs over a decade in the '90s. labor market expanded. there were jobs for everyone. and now 1981, you have a lot of people who have been left behind in this jobs recovery. a lot of people have been left behind but we're starting to

grow jobs consistently every month and we're expecting 110,000 jobs created last month. guys? >> christine romans, interesting numbers. everyone is watching during this election season. thanks very much. >> you're welcome. 26 minutes after the hour right now. charles manson's right-hand man may be getting out of jail. that story coming up. hmm, it says here that cheerios helps lower cholesterol

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who emailed it to emily, who sent it to cindy, who wondered why her soup wasn't quite the same. the recipe's not the recipe... ohhh. [ female announcer ] ...without swanson. the broth cooks trust most when making soup. mmmm! [ female announcer ] the secret is swanson.

a big shift for mitt romney. the candidate's new position on his 47% comments. a side of presidential debate you probably didn't see. our experts say it wasn't the

candidate's words, it was their aks that spoke volumes. could it be a november surprise? the movie coming out just days before the election that could help the commander in chief. welcome back to "early start," everyone. i'm john berman. >> >> i'm zoraida sambolin. happy to have i don't with us this hour. mitt romney basking in his debate success makes a major admission that he was completely wrong, those are his words, in that secretly recorded video when he said nearly half of americans were victims depend enept on government. this is a really gig gift. president obama and his advisers are trying to recover from debate doldrums, now going on at tack. brianna keilar is in washington with the latest. before we get to romney's mea culpa, let's refresh viewers memories on what he said about that 47%. 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. 47% are with him, dependent upon

government, who believe they are victims, who believe government has a responsibility to care for them, believe they're entitled to health care, food, housing, you name it. it's entitlement, the government should give it to them and they will vote for this president no matter what. these are people who pay no income taxes. my job is not to worry about those people. i'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. >> what is romney saying now. >> he's stepping away from it entirely, disavowing the comments. here's what he said last night on fox news to sean hannity. >> clearly in a campaign with hundreds, if not thousands of speeches and question and answer sessions, now and then you're going to say soming is that doesn't come out right. in this case i said something that's completely wrong. i absolutely believe, however, that my life has shown that i care about 100%. and that's been demonstrated

throughout my life. and this whole campaign is about the 100%. when i become president, it will be about helping the 100%. >> so completely wrong. that's what he said last night. listen to what he said last month, this was the day these comments blew up and got so much attention. mitt romney called a sort of hasty press conference in southern california. and he didn't own the style of the comments but he certainly owned the substance. here's what he said. >> well, you know, it's not elegantly stated. let me put it that way. i'm speaking off the cuff in response to a question. it's a message which i'm going to carry and continue to carry which is, look, the president's approach is attractive to people who are not paying taxes because frankly, my discussion about lowering taxes isn't as attractive to them. therefore, i'm not likely to draw them into my campaign as effectively as those in the middle. >> of course, zoraida, those comments very damaging to mitt

romney. the obama campaign has ads where he is starring -- his comments are starring in the ads and the comments were seen as the culprit for why we saw polls widening last month between president obama and mitt romney, including in key battleground states. >> it explains the aboutface. it looks like president obama is taking on -- he's talking tough on the pain trail. that's about about-face this morning. >> that is an about-face for what people saw in denver on wednesday night, a sort of, it seemed uncharacteristic president obama. he was very passive. we saw a very different president obama on the trail yesterday. listen to what he said at one of his rallies in wisconsin. >> when i got on the stage, i met this very spirited fellow who claimed to be mitt romney. but i know it couldn't have been mitt romney.

because the real mitt romney's been running around the country for the last year promising $5 trillion in tax cuts that favor the wealthy. and yet, the fellow on the stage last night, who looked like mitt romney, said he did not know anything about that. >> now, i will tell you, zoraida, covering the president, this is the president that i'm used to seeing on the trail. this was a rally in wisconsin that had tens of thousands of people there. the problem for president obama is this wasn't what we saw on wednesday night. more than 67 million people saw that debate. i can guarantee you, not anywhere near that saw his comments from yesterday. >> no. you know what also, when he says that, you know, that wasn't the real romney. a lot of people are asking where was the real obama on that evening, right? >> exactly. a lot of people are asking that. >> brianna keilar live in washington. thank you very much. >> thanks. men time, political observers are analyzing why it was that mitt romney seemed to beat president obama by so much in their first presidential debate.

body language can often be a key to victory. cnn's gary tuckman talked to an expert about what the candidates were saying when they weren't saying anything. >> in general, i felt that romney in the debate looked engaged and strong and assertive, but at moments, too aggressive and too agitated. obama looks glad it's over, relieved, he doesn't look victorious. romney looks happy and he looks relieved but you can tell he feels victorious. >> here's body language i'm giving you here. the candidates -- body language. what does that say? the candidate's facial expressions are also being analyzed. one expert using face reader software says there were measurable differences during the debate. >> romney was much more expressive than president obama was.

in a sales term, obama can't close a sale. we're seeing that if he were to be more expressive, and express the emotion that his voters are feeling, his voters then would start rating him as more charismatic. >> wouldn't you say that expert had less expression on his face than anyone i've ever seen in my life. he did say the president was expression neutral during the debate. >> i felt the same way. american airlines are pulling 48 boeing 757s out of service today to fix seats that have come loose on some of the planes. the airline says service should be back to normal by tomorrow. >> one of the problems, people have been spilling too many drinks? >> really odd. cra crazy. release has been recommended for bruce davis. he's serving a life sentence for the 1969 murders of music

teacher gary hindman and stuntman donald "shorty" shay. two years ago a california panel also granted parole to davis but it was overturned by then governor arnold schwarzenegger. a new york city woman is battling her parents in court for the right to die. 28-year-old grace lee right there is suffering from terminal brain cancer. a recent stroke also left her paralyzed from the neck down. the former manhattan bank manager says she wants to die. she is begging doctors to take her off of life support. lee's parents say removing the tubes would be suicide. they oppose the move for religious reasons. >> this is someone who is inevitably dying within the next two weeks and two months who is hooked up to all these life-sustaining contraptions saying, you know what, i have had enough. it is time for me to be at peace. >> grace lee's father, a reverend, is a pastor. he says he doesn't want his

daughter to go to hell. a new film about the raid that killed osama bin laden will air two days before election day. s.e.a.l. team 6, the raid on osama bin laden is being produced by harvey weinstein. it can be seen on the national geographic channel. >> plenty of tough talk from republicans on immigration but not a word during the debate. coming up, courting the latino vote and what this crucial voting bloc wants to hear from the candidates. [ male announcer ] there's a better way... v8 v-fusion. vegetable nutrition they need, fruit taste they love. could've had a v8...

welcome back to "early start." 42 minutes past the hour. the latino vote will be critical come election day, both democrats and republicans furiously jockeying for their votes. some latino republicans are putting pressure on leaders in their own party, imploring them to do more outreach while focusing less on immigration. soledad o'brien has been following both parties for a year in nevada.

>> i'm anderson cooper in las vegas. tonight, the presidential candidates come here to win the west. >> reporter: in october 2011, the republican presidential candidates rolled into town with their money and their message. >> herman cain, let me start with you. would you build an entire fence along the entire border and would you have it be electrified? >> i will build a double walled fence. >> reporter: there's tough talk on immigration. >> we have enough border patrol agents to oversee the fence and number who, you turn off the magnets like tuition breaks or other breaks that draw people into this country illegally. >> we have a question in the audience. >> reporter: in the audience is las vegas businessman robert zavala, a republican voter anxious to ask the question on the minds of many latino voters. >> we have 50 million latinos and not all of us are illegal. what is the message from you guys to our latino community? >> reporter: is it a tough thing to be latino and republican

here? >> yes, it is. >> reporter: how so? >> i have to defend the party. that's not all of us. our community is not all about immigration. they want jobs. they want a better education for their kids. >> what is the message that we take to the grass root? >> reporter: hours after the gop debate, in a different session, zavala is still pressing his own party's leaders for answers. >> you are nothing but latino leaders in here. we don't know how to reach them out there. the democrats are kicking our behind. >> we need you out here talking to us, to the latinos. >> reporter: this republican shares zavala's dissatisfaction. >> the republican leadership has to siene a message to our community. >> reporter: what's your frustration with the republican party? >> they don't see what hispanics go through every day and the other parties taking advantage of that. they don't see it as a problem. >> reporter: you think republicans aren't fighting for your vote? >> exactly. >> reporter: cecilia wants to fight for their votes and is pushing the gop leadership to

join her and take their message to the latino community. >> i never see them trying to be out there and express their voices, you know? i'm not afraid to tell people what i stand for. so i want them to be with me out there trying to teach and educate the population. you can see soledad's entire documentary, latino in america, courting their vote, this sunday night, 8:00 and 11:00 p.m. eastern. coming up, etch plosive claims from a legendary college coach. this really surprised me. why tennessee's pat summitt says she was forced out. after the break. [ engine revs ] come in. ♪ got the coffee. that was fast. we're outta here. ♪ [ engine revs ]

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it is 48 minutes after the hour. we want to get you up to speed on the top stories. christine romans here with that. good morning, you two. are you flying american airlines today? check it out. they are grounding thousands of air travelers by cancelling many flights today. 48 boeing 757s out of service to fix a problem with seats coming loose during flight. maintenance crews scrambling to repair a device called a seat lock plunger that fastens seats to the plane's floor. the airline expects to be back to full schedule by tomorrow. three new jersey high school teachers and two administrators have been arrested in a school sex scandal. the teachers are charged with having sexual relationships with three female high school

seniors. the principal and vice principal at triton regional high school allegedly tried to protect the teachers. prosecutors say they were told teachers and students were hooking up. the legendary coach of the tennessee lady vols says she was forced out. pat summitt said she was forced to step aside last spring after being diagnosed with dementia. summitt won more games than any other college men's or woman's coach and was awarded the presidential medal of freedom from president obama in may. the university did not respond. ever dream of living inside a haunted mansion? >> oh, yes, every night. >> really? if you have about $873,000 to spend, maybe you can. a rep lica of disney's attractin

is for sale on ebay. >> my house isn't hauntsed enough. >> i want to go to somebody else's house to hawn and then come back to my own. >> no kidding. >> thank you for that, christine. >> you're welcome. a foot of snow in early october? you better believe it, alexandra steele is in for rob marciano. good morning. >> how about more than a foot in some areas. here are some of the numbers. minnesota, the real winner with this. 14 inches in badger, 8 in angus. fargo, 1.5 inches there. let me show you video. coupled with the snow -- he doesn't look comfortable. kids out there with their hats enjoying it. it was very windy, reports of wind gusts, 40, 50 miles per hour. the wind was blowing, the snow was coming down. you can see how wet the snow is sticking to everything. with that, the cold air is in place, the moisture is there. freeze threat for these aim

areas, even into eastern colorado, western kansas and through the dakotas. what does it feel like waking up there this early hour? 14. the wind chill at minot, rapid city feeling like 32. the coldest air of the season is, we call this a blue norther. temperatures precipitously dropping in last couple of days. today, 49 in denver, 80 two days ago. look at this delineation. you can see where the cold front is, much colder behind it. pless and the in the southeast. temperatures tomorrow in atlanta getting to 82 but atlanta gets to the 60s on sunday. washington falls to the 50s by sunday. so, guys, everyone gets into this colder air as we work our way through the weekend. >> how exciting, alexandra! >> yay! we're weather geeks. we love it. >> is it good snow ball fighting weather? it looked like the kids were having a good time with that. >> out of nowhere she says she bets i can't throw a snow ball,

just because. >> i bet he has a bad arm. >> it's a challenge. 52 minutes after the hour. we have a packed hour ahead on "early start," including caught on tape. you won't believe this. a police officer charged for pummeling a guy in a wheelchair. the attorney says the beatdown was entirely justified. >> wow. also, a recruit who won the battle of the bulge, dropping 160 pounds to get into the army. why he says america's junk food problem is a national security issue. also, rock the boat. the next generation, stars like miley cyrus, neil patrick harris rallying fans to get out the vote this november in new rock the vote ads. adam shankman will join us live. first, from the why didn't i think of that file, greatest halloween costume you will see this season. it's inspire by the worst

touchup of a painting ever. that is so sad. >> fantastic. >> or crete yaf be, right? ♪ ♪ fly by night away from here ♪ ♪ change my life again ♪ ♪ fly by night, goodbye my dear ♪ ♪ my ship isn't coming ♪ and i just can't pretend oww! ♪ [ male announcer ] careful, you're no longer invisible in a midsize sedan. the volkswagen passat. the 2012 motor trend car of the year. that's the power of german engineering. the 2012 motor trend car of the year. ♪ atmix of energies.ve the world needs a broader that's why we're supplying natural gas to generate cleaner electricity... that has around 50% fewer co2 emissions than coal.

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welcome back, everyone. john berman with zoraida sambolin. we are taking a look at what is trending on the internet this morning. >> you had to know this was coming. the restored jesus fresco halloween costume is being shared all over social media. this one was apparently spotted at the festival in atlanta. of course, the costume inspired by the story of an -- where is it? in spain. she took it upon herself to touch up a 19th century painting of jesus christ and turn him into a potato of sorts.

she's reportedly demanding royalties for it. she said -- you know, i feel like i have to defend this woman. she says that the priest gave her permission to do this. >> it's an awesome costume. the late-night crowd weighing in on president obama's debate performance. >> a lot of people disappointed in president obama's performance last night. last night critics say president obama spent too much time looking down at something on the podium. did you notice that? >> yes. >> today the president apologized said at the next debate, no more angry birds. >> romney talked last night about cutting funding to pbs, the home of "sesame street" and big bird was not happy. did you see what big bird did to romney's car after the debate? show what happened. that is unbelievable. he is not happy. he is not happy. >> there is no red america, there is no blue america! this is only the america that can't believe how bad this guy did in the debate.

how bad was the defeat? obama lost despite mitt romney doing this. >> i'm sorry, jim, i'm going to stop the subsidy to pbs. i love pbs, big bird and you, too. i'm not going to spend money on things to borrow money from china to pay for it. >> the [ bleep ] fired big bird! america's favorite bird! he [ bleep ] big bird and won! >> romney won with the sound off. dude, he's yelling at you. look up. look up! what are you looking at? what are you writing that's so important? what are you doing -- oh, i didn't realize. that is impressive work. i didn't realize that. [ applause ] maybe you could give that to mitt romney as a souvenir of the

night he crushed you in that debate. >> all right. >> "early start" continues right now. mitt romney positions. candidate now calling his 37% comments completely wrong. >> this convicted killer walked free? the decision that could let a member of the manson family member out of prison? >> flights scrubbed as mechanics fix a serious safety flaw on the fleet of 757s. >> good morning. welcome to "early start." >> mitt romney basking in his debate success and makes a major admission. he was, quote, completely wrong in that secretly recorded video when he said nearly half of americans were victims dependent on government. this is a big shift, folks. president obama and his adviser meanwhile are trying to recover

from debate doldrums now going on the attack. white house correspondent brianna keilar is live in washington with the latest for us. before we get to romney's mea culpa, let's remind viewers what he said about the 47%. >> 47% of the people who are with them, dependent on government. believe they are victims, believe government has a responsibility to care for them. who believe that they are entitled to health care, food, housing, you name it. that's an entitlement and government should give it to them. they will vote for the president no matter what. they pay no income tax. my job is not to worry -- they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. >> after that, romney said maybe it was an elegantly stated. what does he now say about the comment? >> he has gone a lot farther now and is now really completely

disavowing his comments that came to light weeks ago. here is what he said last night on fox news to sean hannity. >> clearly in a campaign with hundreds, if not thousands, now and then you will say something that doesn't come out right. in this case i said something that's completely wrong. and i absolutely believe, however, my life has shown that i care about 100%. and that's been demonstrated throughout my life. this whole campaign is about the 100%. when i become president it will be about helping the 100%. >> this is a fight the departure from what mitt romney said last month on the day that these remarks really blew up and got so much attention. here is what he said in what was a hastily called press conference in california on that day where he owned really the -- pardon me p. the substance of what he was saying but not the style. >> well, you know, it is not

elegantly stated. i'm speaking off the cuff in response to a question. but it is -- a message which i'm going yard and con to carry which is, look, the president's approach is attractive to people who are not paying taxes because -- frankly, my -- discussion about lowering taxes isn't as attract turf them and, therefore, i'm not likely to draw them into my campaign as effectively as those who are in the middle p. >> his 47% comments have been seen as very hurtful for him in the last months. as we saw some of those poll numbers widen between president obama and mitt romney especially in key battleground states. this is what seems to be the culprit. don't expect the obama campaign to let mitt romney get off scot-free. he has been starring in their campaign ads just with his own words from the video from that fund-raiser. >> no. i suspect they will continue to use that. critics are saying president obama was not aggressive enough in the debates but looks like he is talking tough now on the campaign trail. >> that's right. he kind of found his mojo

yesterday when he was campaigning in denver, in wisconsin. much more aggressive president obama than we saw wednesday might and the president obama i'm certainly used to seeing on the campaign trail, here is what he said. >> when i got on the stage, i met this very spirited fellow who claimed to be mitt romney. but i know it couldn't have been mitt romney bus the real mitt romney has been running around the country the last year promising $5 trillion in tax cuts that favor the wealthy. the fellow the stage last night who looked like mitt romney said he did not know anything about that. >> as you pointed out it is funny because who is that guy? >> exactly. >> you saw wednesday night. president obama before this huge crowd in wisconsin. as you know, we talked about this, there were 67 million people plus watching the debate.

not that many people were watching his comments yesterday. he has a ways to go to reverse the enthusiasm gap. i think you can say he had between yesterday and the debate. >> you are absolutely right. very good point. the. four minutes after the hour. lot of news today. first friday of the month means it is jobs day. 8:30 a.m. we will get an update from the labor department. >> you know who is watching it all for us, christine romans has the forecast and a look at the big picture. >> hi, guys. you know, a lot of economists are telling me they don't expect any surprise this month or next month before the election. they expect the same sluggish growth we have seen. 110,000 jobs created is the forecast for this month. 110,000 employment rate at 8.1%. you know, we have seen housing coming back a little bit and seen stronger consumer confidence. so if there is a risk, economists are telling me it could be that it is -- may be stronger than this but 110 is what they are expecting. let's look at the very big partly cloudy tour.

back to 2008. tend of 2008, financial crisis, everyone every one of those red bars on the chart are devastation for workers and families as businesses were slashing jobs. again and again and again. walk with me to 2010. a real hard time getting things back on track. walk with me to 2011. you saw on average 159,000 jobs created every month. on average. 2012, we are about 139,000 jobs created every month on average. this month would be weaker than we have seen the average for the rest of the year. let me show you one more big picture. let's go all the way back to 1981, if you will. back here. 1981. last time we saw what's called the labor participation rate this low. what it means is all of that devastation we showed in 2008, 2009, knocked people out of the labor market. you now have a labor market right now that's the labor participation rate, same as it was back in 1981. that shows you that there are people who have been left out of

the jobs market and that is this underlying, unnerving angst when you talk about jobs in the country we keep talking about. even as 100, 150, even some months 200,000 jobs created, lot of people left behind and that's what's the big polite capital, economic and moral problem we are going through. >> thanks, christine romans. we will walk with you to 2010 and 2011 and we will walk with you anywhere. thank you. seven minutes after the hour. american airlines is pulling 48 boeing 757s out of service to repair a problem with seats coming loose during flights. american has also canceled dozens more flights so maintenance workers can fix seat lock plungers on the planes. those are brackets if i canned the seats to the floor. airline says full service should be restored by sometime tomorrow. a member of the infamous manson family may soon be out of prison. a california parole board recommended release for this guy, bruce davis.

he is serving a life sentence for the 1969 murders of music tea teacher. a california panel also granted parole for bruce davis but decision was overturned by governor schwarzenegger. more bad news for hockey fans. the nhl has now canceled the first two weeks of the regular season because of an ongoing player lockout. this season was scheduled to start next thursday. this news comes a week after the league wiped out the entire preseason in talks between the nhl and player union have failed to produce a new labor agreement. other sports news. baseball's new postseason wild card format kicks off later today. 1s is one and done. winner moves on and loser goes home in the american league, surprising baltimore orioles traveling to arlington to take on the too fending american league champs texas rangers. in the national league, it is the defending world series champions st. louis cardinals. they are always in the postseason. taking on the braves in atlanta. this all gets started at 5:07

eastern. >> we are rooting for atlanta. >> the braves. go cnn in atlanta. go, braves. >> this this is serious. rare meningitis outbreak spreading now. 237 23 states are now at risk. the source and how you can stay safe. elizabeth cohen has all of the tips coming up next. ♪ leaving my homeland ♪ playing a lone hand ♪ my life begins today ♪ ♪ fly by night away from here ♪ ♪ change my life again ♪ ♪ fly by night, goodbye my dear ♪ ♪ my ship isn't coming ♪ and i just can't pretend oww! ♪ [ male announcer ] careful, you're no longer invisible in a midsize sedan. the volkswagen passat. the 2012 motor trend car of the year.

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find your co-pay at myflexpen.com. have more fiber than other leading brands. they're the better way to enjoy your fiber. welcome back to "early start." >> glad you are with thus morning. deadly meningitis outbreak is growing today. 38 people in six states are fighting it. this is up considerably from 26 yesterday. senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen joins us now live from atlanta.

what is the latest? >> the latest on this is the food and drug administration is telling doctors don't use any products from the new england compounding center. this is a company that puts different drugs together and as we have seen, one of these drugs is associated with the i illnesses. they had back pain and what they are investigating now is there could be a fungus in there that's making people sick. these are people -- only problem was back pain. that's what they were going in for. now they have fungal meningitis, extremely difficult disease to treat and very dead. >> i fda has inexpected a facility where this was produced. what did they find. >> when they went in there they actually found fungus in a vial that you could see with the naked eye. i heard that gasp. yes, i gasped, too. they could see it. they saw this, looked in a vial

and saw guck, for lack of a better word. they are saying don't use anything from this place. >> you showeds that map. steroid medication linked to the outbreak has been sent out of 23 states. are more infections possible? >> yes. more infections are possible. it was sent to 75 facilities in those states. so there may be people out there who have a fever and nausea and the doctors can't quite figure out why this person is sick. well, people are going to start putting two and two together and they are going to say wow, this person got a steroid injection a week ago or whatever perhaps it is this fungal meningitis. we will be likely hearing more from this. i want to add, though, this is really crushal, when people hear meningitis they think contagious, right? they think i'm going to get it from the guy next to me on the bus or my friend at work. that's not the case here. you are -- you only need to worry if you got a steroid injection with this drug. >> all right. thank you, elizabeth cohen, for keeping us up to date on this story. that has us all a little nerv s

nervous. >> i know a ton of people that get those steroid injection force back pain. go to your doctor if you have any of those symptoms. christine romans with this morning's top stories. >> good morning. mitt romney basking in his debate success makes major shift saying he was completely wrong in that secretly recorded video when he said a nearly half of americans were victims dependent on government. president obama and his adviser, meanwhile are fighting back, playing debate damage control. saying romney's performance was unprecedented in its dishonesty. later this hour, director, producer, actor, adam shankman will join us live and will weigh in on the president's debate performance. new this morning, u.s. special operations forces are now in libya helping gather intel on militants who were allegedly involved in the attack on the american consulate in benghazi that killed four americans. military officials tell cnn that

includes intercepting communications and analyzing drone images and one-on-one interviews with people who may have information. military is producing security for an fbi team that's now on the ground three weeks after the attack and assassination of our ambassador there. police officer in duluth, minnesota, is facing abuse charges. punching a man in a wheelchair at a detox center. >> oh, my goodness. >> the video shows the officer attempting to restrain anthony jackson. jackson was intoxicated at the time. after being struck once in the face by jackson, the officer responded by punching jackson five times in the head and pulling him out of the chair. very disturbing. a california mother says her gay son earned and deserves eagle scout honors. karen ann started a petition saying her son, ryan, who turns 18 next week fulfilled all the necessary requirements. the boy scouts of america responded by saying he proactive

ly notified his leader which means he falls short on sexual orientation. they received 130,000 signatures so far. if you want to see the taj mahal soon, you don't have to go to india. developners dubai are building an exact replica. cost of $350 million. they will feature a 300-room five-star hotel. egypti falcon city of wonders. >> i thought you were going to say you could go to jersey now. dubai. >> if it is vegas, maybe. >> i thought maybe they are building it in vegas. >> eiffel tower in vegas. nice. >> thank you so much. 17 minutes after the hour. foot of snow in the north and cold stretching all the way to texas.

alexandra steele is in important rob marciano. what's going on? >> i think it is too early for snow. say it ain't snow. no. not for fargo. let's take threw and show you what it looks like. the know that fell 2shgs 1/2 inch necessary fargo, cold air in place. you can see that. but also you can see the a very wet consistency. certainly on the grass surfaces there. less so than the cement. moisture-laden and moisture is there, cold air is there. coldest air yet of the season. you was very windy as well. a lot of blowing snow with the wind chills right now in minot, 12 degrees. incredibly cold. some of the first teens for wind shields. feels like 21 in pierre. 19 in fargo. there was over a foot in other places just north of that. here's the very clear delineation behind the front cold and ahead of the front temperatures still summerlike but cold air continues to drop south and by sunday, only 60ss and 50s in the southeast as

well. >> thank you very much. i was saying all the folks in fargo, send us pictures so we can get ready. an indiana man that wanted to join the u.s. military but told he was too heavy to serve has amazed the recruiters by dropping 160 pounds. kevin says he went to every branch of the military to try to sign up but he was turned down every time. so he ditched his junk food habit, started an exercise program and here is how much he weighed when he started. >> 351. and when you are that big, it has an impact not only on your confidence. i would actually think i was bigger than i was. and so my driver's license said it was 375 but i was 351. >> it is absolutely amazing what he has done. he has come a long way. he is an inspiration to anybody who wants to enlist in the armed forces and serve their country. >> kevin slimmed down just in time at 34, he also had to meet the army's age limit for new recruits. he ships out on october 30.

>> good luck for him. we have a gas shortage to tell you about this morning. it is so serious that some gas stations shut down altogether for real. a live report coming up after this quick break. >> you are in rare form today. [ male announcer ] what if you had thermal night-vision goggles,

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alriwoah! did you get that? and...flip! yep, look at this. it takes like 20 pictures at a time. i never miss anything. isn't that awesome? uh that's really cool. you should upload these. i know, right? that is really amazing. the pictures are so clear. kevin's a handsome devil that phone does everything! search dog tricks. okay, see if we can teach him something cool. look at how lazy kevin is. kevin, get it together dude cmon, kevin take 20 pictures with burst shot on the galaxy s3.

welcome back. 23 minutes past the hour. gas prices in california are the highest in the lower 48. according to aaa, the average for a gallon of gas in

california is $4.48. more than $5 in some places as well. gas itself is at a premium. refinery and supply chain problems led to a severe gas shortage. it has driven prices way up and caused stations to shut down their pumps. companies affected include vallo, exxon and costco. paul, what is causing the shortage? >> reporter: you alluded to it before. there was a does rupgs in the supply chain. we had problems here. you may have seen some of these. supplier back in august at a refinery. we had a pipeline shut down and power outages. so a myriad of factors contributing to this. if you look over my left holdter shell station is open. hit some of the lower prices in this particular neighborhood. it is at $4.61 a gallon. imagine what's going on for the consumers here. talking to a young woman who was a military reservist. she had been in mississippi. came back to california and here

is what she had to say. >> it was a shock for me because i have been out of town the last couple months and have been where the gas polices are a lot cheaper. so it is about $1 higher than what i was paying. and even with a hybrid it is a lot of money to pay. >> it takes a lot of gas to drive to locations. and i can't afford it. because i won't be able to pay the gas to get up there. it is very difficult, goes up this much this fast. >> reporter: when you see some of the larger suvs come into this station, you will know that a lot of the prices go above $100 for them to fill up. tough times here in california. >> that's really painful. we were reading about a possible plan to fix the problem. get a state waiver to allow the sale of winter-grade fuel. can you tell us about that? >> reporter: yes.

winter-grade fuel costs a lottes to produce than summer-grade fuel which is environmentally friendly and the idea is to keep down those pollution emissions in the hot weather. if they convert this fuel it could get a lot more of the cheaper gas into the pipelines sooner. they have to get a waiver from the air quality bore. if that happens that would alleviate a lot of the problems here. >> paul, we are feeling for the folks here in california because this is really tough when you see $100 to fill your gas tank. but is it possible that this could spread to other states as well? >> reporter: no. they think it is going to mainly be confined to california because that's where the problems are. of course, one thing to remember if you are watching at home, each state is vulnerable to its individual taxes. the highest gasoline tax of the nation is in new york just a little higher than california and both those states push right up there at about 70 cents a gallon. more pain on those coast. >> yeah. i hail from chicago.

sky high as well. thank you very much. thanks. coming up, uh-oh. movie star in handcuffs. what daryl hannah did to her this mug shot. if you are leaving the house now you can watch us any time on your desk top or mobile phone. cnn.com/tv. oh no, not a migraine now. try this... bayer? this isn't just a headache. trust me, this is new bayer migraine. [ male announcer ] it's the power of aspirin plus more in a triple action formula to relieve your tough migraines.

new bayer migraine formula. in a triple action formula to relieve your tough migraines. these appliances could have been made here in america. but a company called global tech maximized profits by paying its workers next to nothing... under sweatshop conditions in china. when mitt romney led bain, they saw global tech as a good investment... even knowing that the firm promoted its practice of exploiting... low-wage labor to its investors. mitt romney - tough on china? since when?

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we are going to talk to him coming up as well. welcome back to "early start." nice to have you with us this morning. >> 30 minutes past the hour now. we have new developments to tell you about this morning. more flights canceled. more planes idle. this is shaping up to be a rough, rough morning for american air lines and travelers as thousands may be stranded. 48 boeing 757s have been called in for maintenance and passengers on dozens more of american flights will have to find another way to get where they are going. all of this because of something called a seat lock plunger. the air line believes that this is the culprit that caused passengers seats to come loose from the floor on three different pilots. george how sell live this morning from the cnnstenter in atlanta. george, explain to us what this seat plunger lock thing is. how does it work and how does american believe some of them came loose? >> good morning. well, it is basically a pin and lock system. mechanism to keep that seat fixed to keep it attached to the

floor. we are hearing several different things. first, i want to talk about what we are hearing from our affiliate wfaa in dallas. they went out and talked to american airlines and they learned that part of the problem came down to this. came down to soft drinks and coffees that had spilled over time and eventually contributed to the wear and tear on these systems that caused them to go into the unlocked position. now just a few day ace go we heard from american airlines directly. they said that these clamps were put on twisted, backwards. we also heard from workers and the union. union pointing the finger at outsourced maintenance as the reason for this problem. so all of this just -- lot of bad news for american airlines. airline that just went into bankruptcy nearly a year ago and has been dogged with cancelations and delays. when we are seeing now, airline is basically doubling down. they have called 48 of these 757 jets and now they are going back and retrofitting those mechanisms with another device to keep these seats on the

floor. they already check these 48 pilots just in the past few days and doing it again. so passengers like this woman who does not want to be identified so that she and others don't have to go through the same thing again. take a listen. >> the seat flipped backwards. it was actually a complete nightmare. and so people were -- essentially on the laps of the passengers behind them. >> i still can't believe when you told us in the beginning american is blaming this in part on spilled soft drinks. >> that's what they are saying. what it means for passengers, we are talking about thousands of people who will he go to the airports today and many will find that their flights are canceled or delayed due to this maintenance problem but american says they will have the problem fixed by october 6, by tomorrow. so -- what we saw yesterday some 44 pilots, rather 50 flights canceled. 44 expected to be canceled today. that number could go up or down depending upon how quickly they

can fix this problem. again, a lot of people will be out of luck as they try to make those destinations today. >> thanks very much for that. >> how many soft drinks have you spilled on a plight? >> more than a few actually. i still can't believe -- >> seems odd. 33 minutes past the hour. president obama didn't mention mitt romney's 47% comment during their debate but romney is talking about it. the republican challenger campaigning with renewed vigor now says he was completely wrong to say 47% of americans were victims and dependent on government. >> clearly in a campaign with hundreds, if not thousands of speeches and questions and answer session, now and then you are going to say something that doesn't come out right. in this case i said something that's completely wrong. and i absolute lly my life has shown that i care about 100%. that's been demonstrated throughout my life.

the whole campaign is about the 100%. when i become president it will be about helping the 100%. >> romney has campaign events in virginia and florida today. new fill billion the raid that killed osama bin laden is scheduled to air lust would days before election day. s.e.a.l. team 6, raid on osama bin laden, is being distributed by harvey weinstein. big backer of president obama. this will be carried on the "national geographic" channel. lawyers for new york city have issued a subpoena to documentary filmmaker ken burns. they want outtakes and other materials from his film "central park five." it is about the five men ultimately exonerated in 1989, central park rape case. those men are suing the city for $250 million. burns' lawyers say before they turn over anything the city must prove material t materials are vital to their defense and unavailable elsewhere. actress and environmental activist daryl had an arrested again over the keystone pipeline. her rep said she stood in front

of an excavator in texas for the controversial pipeline. she was arrested outside the white house last year in an earlier protest against the pipeline. american astronaut in russia. he is about to embark on a mission to the stars with a couple of cosmonauts. astronaut kevin ford is standing by. there he is live. we are going to talk to him right after this quick break. energy is being produced to power our lives. while energy development comes with some risk, north america's natural gas producers are committed

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welcome back to "early start." an american astronaut about to hitch a ride with the russians up to the international space station. later this month, nasa's kevin ford will join two russian astronauts aboard a russian

soyuz spacecraft that will blast them into orbit for a five-month stay. ford will join the station's current team and take over as expedition commander. this will mark for the second space flight and his first aboard a russian soyuz spacecraft. kevin ford is joining us live now from the cosmonaut training center in star city, russia, where he and his crewmates have been preparing for the mission. thank you for being with us. you will be at that time iss from the end of the month until march of next year. can you tell us what you will be doing while you are there? >> well, i can't tell you exactly what we will be doing but i can tell you what we plan to do. so we -- we hope to carry out a lot of science. we had a lot of training on maybe 30 or 40 different crew, intensive science projects that will do onboard. have to do with fluid dynamics,

combustion, medicine, human science, various kinds of things. osteoporosis. they are all very involved when you do them in zero g. training is extensive. that's the purpose of going up there to get all of this science -- science done. there are a lot of elements to fly something space you have to train for as well. getting there, getting back, handling of the cargo that arrives and departs. going outside and doing space walks and fixing things on the exterior of the space station. we trained for an awful lot of things. >> i want to talk about that training because your last flight to the iss was aboard the shuttle "discovery" in 2009. so what's different here? is the training different for you? >> well, the -- first big thing is that from the time i get to kazakhstan to the time i get onboard space station i will be speaking russian. with -- with my russian cosmonaut colleagues. we fly on the soyuz kazakhstan

and all of the on-board documentation and communications with control centers is all done in russian. for the most part with my crewmates. they like to practice their english, too. we use a mix inside the spacecraft. that's a big -- spacecraft itself is also a very different, obviously, soyuz is more like -- rocket, like missile. about the size of the space shuttle solid rocket booster. spacecraft is encapsulated inside. it is a rather small spacecraft with just three people in it that flies and docks in the space station and come home instead of landing with wings, we come home to a land landing in kazakhstan underneath a big parachute. very different system of transportation. one i'm very confident in and looking forward to riding in. >> one that really freaked me out i have to tell you. when i was read being this and the way you land, it is a land down land instead of land on water. you are spinning throughout the entire re-entry.

are you concerned at all about that? >> well, it is a very proven spacecraft. flown successfully now for decades literally. so the hardware is good. the design is proven. and -- it is dynamic. and, you know, things -- occasionally do get inning. but we have been trained and so many of the situations. we will handle them if they come. i'm looking forward to the experience of the landing. it is very dynamic especially after having been in zero g for 4 1/2 months to have a parachute open at very high speed and actually land hard on the surface of the planet. it should be a great experience. >> i have to tell you we are very excited for you. we are very grateful that you spent time with us this morning. and we are wishing you a great deal of luck as well. s in a -- nasa's kevin ford.

back to you. 43 minutes after the hour. american airlines is pulling 48 boeing 757s out of service this morning to repair a problem with seats coming loose during flights. american has been forced to cancel dozens more flights today. maintenance workers can secure seats that have come loose on some planes. airline says service should be back to normal by tomorrow. at least five people are now dead in a fungal meningitis outbreak. people in almost half the states in the country are at risk. the cdc saying the steroid medication linked to the outbreak was sent to 23 states. more infections are possible. that steroid technically used to treat back pain is injected into patients' spines. the company that made the medication has voluntarily recalled it. wall street and main street waiting for the september jobs report to come out at 8:30 eastern this morning. economists surveyed by cnn money expect more of the same sluggish growth. 110,000 jobs added last month. if that pans out it will be a slight improvement over august

when 96,000 jobs were created. in both cases those numbers are not nearly high enough to bring down the jobless rate. baseball's postseason gets under way today with two wild card matchups in the new forma. winner moves on and loser goes home. american league it is the upstart baltimore orioles traveling to texas to take on josh ham i am ton and defending american league champs. first pitch 8:37 p.m. eastern time. and in the national league, defending champion st. louis cardinals taking on the braves in atlanta. that will get going at 5:07 eastern this evening. who are you rooting for? >> no idea. if the yankees aren't playing -- >> what's the starting point? >> i thought i could answer it for you. obviously waiting for the breaking news on the economy. closely watched jobs report you were talking about. getting more scrutiny than usual. because of the presidential election is nearing. are more job seekers getting hired? what does it say about the economic future? we will try to answer those

questions when we bring the jobs report to you. mitt romney on his victory lap attempting to repair damage where he said 47%. now he saying, quote, i was completely wrong. the question today is that -- image we have or is that just a flip-flop? why distract from your victory lap to does 47%? both sides will be weighing in for us. the man who was charles manson's right hand line, a california panel has granted him parole. we will look at the details behind that. all ahead at 7:00 on "starting point" 14 minutes from now. >> who are you rooting for? >> braves and orioles tonight. sorry, texas. already. 46 minutes after the hour. big-time hollywood director taking the lead on a very i did kind of project. getting people to rock the vote.

we will talk to adam shankman next. [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus presents the cold truth.

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america's youth to the ballot box. rocks the vote campaign is out with a brand-new star-studded psa. let's take a look. ♪ >> we will -- >> vote. >> vote. >> vote. >> vote. ♪ >> we will vote because we matter. >> because you matter. >> we will vote because we make a difference. >> adam shankman is the director of that video and direct ad number of popular films, rock of

ages, "hairspray." he does everything. this morning we are here talking about "rock the vote." >> did you say mime? >> you do everything so it must be included in the list. most of your stuff is apolitical. why get into rock the vote? >> oh, god. are you kidding? nothing is actually apolitical. rock the vote is something i have been affiliated for 21 years. a very good friend of mine who is deceased started the campaign. i got agitated by the pact that there was a lot of -- voter suppression, voter purging. i called rock the vote and said, you know, what most hollywood folk, i guess you would call us do, you know, very little i can do besides -- besides write a check and put on a show. and so that's what i did. >> put on a show. >> that's what i do. >> rock the vote doesn't pick sides in this. >> no. >> is that hard for you? >> no, it is not hard for me. it is not hard for me. i actually -- adieu the fact

that that is one of our great american rights is we have a choice is that we have two sides and that we balance each other. i absolutely have a side that -- that's because i have certain principles i believe are supported bay certain glide before we move on, "funny or die" and i feel like we owe it to our viewers. >> there is a dirty version. >> this is my first time voting but i know what i'm doing. i'm going to run in, scream the name of the person i'm voting for and run out. >> i'm going to skip my next hair cut to vote. >> i'm voting so i can take my mind off of kristin and rob. >> i vote because it is all of our civic duty to help choose the people who will lead this country into the future. also i love hitting on the little old chicks that check you in. >> there is another version. >> there is such a dirtier version. >> silliness, does silliness work? will that motivate kids? >> i don't know if it motivates kids. yes, it does motivate kids. kids want to be talked to in way

that this are not -- preached to and i think that there's this sort of hammer that happens whether you are talking about voting and politics. if you have been watching what's going on in politics now you can obviously see that there is -- you know, it is -- so preachy and, frankly, kind of annoying and full of lies and which fact checkers have been a part of and i think it is really important to just try to get people to jump in the fray and as part of that bigger picture. >> 2008, the -- young voters turned out. >> 2 million young voters. >> the bad news is the pew center and research centers say enthusiasm among young votesers way down. >> of course it is. >> why? what are you going to do about it? >> have you seen what the candidates are -- i'm sorry. our president who is, i believe, doing a yeoman's job, is out there killing himself, being the president, trying to fix what's going on right now, exhausted.

and you have what is -- you know, i don't think that mitt romney is a bad guy. i think he is a rich white guy who is out there. >> quickly, why is he not energizing the voters like he did four years ago? >> because -- it is a troublesome time right now. are you kidding? it is because -- he has been blocked in every way by the gop. and i think that he -- listen, i think they are both good guys. i just think that our president stands for the principles i do and -- i think it is really hard right now. >> whatever side you want, you want people to vote. >> that's it. >> adam shankman, thanks for joining us. >> today's best advice from tv star tim daly, that is coming up next. citracal slow release continuously releases calcium plus d with efficient absorption in one daily dose. citracal slow release.

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it is 57 minutes past the hour. wrap it up as always with best advice. >> here is christine. >> today's advice we hear from director and producer tim daly. >> i think the best advice i have ever received was from my dad who said something cryptic but i get it now. he said you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him act. i think that meant that nobody really wants you to be an actor. you have to want -- you want v to want it yourself and that -- you know, that it is a privilege to be able to do that. the second piece of great advice that i have gotten is from william shakes pier, and that the -- going to sound corny but to thy self be true. that could be the best advice anyone could have anywhere. >> first shakes pier reference,

second dad reference. >> ever? >> i think so, yes. >> mop has like 10,000, dad has two. >> we will have to go back and fact dhaek. >> that's "early start" for this morning. i'm john berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. our starting point, mitt romney says he was completely wrong. >> we believe they are victims and play no income tax. they will vote for this president no matter what. >> a leaked videotape, stunning gaffe. now a recharged mitt romney is trying to repair the damage. could it hurt him more? a rare meningitis outbreak and it is spreading. 23 states at risk. five people are dead and health officials alerting hospitals and doctors to check their drug supply. gas prices suddenly skyrocketing. $3 a gallon, d$4. what about $6? gas stations are beginning to shut down. is a gasor